


The Kuleshov Effect

by RedNightingale



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Bickering, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Resolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 22:48:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17671571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedNightingale/pseuds/RedNightingale
Summary: ‘I bet you’re getting off on this so much. I hope I look pretty in your memories, when you jerk off to this later tonight.’‘Thin ice, Ren. You’re on thin fucking ice.’(So no one told you the Apocalypse was gonna be this way)





	The Kuleshov Effect

**Author's Note:**

> The< a href=”https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KuleshovEffect” >Kulesov Effect < /a is a film-making technique that uses the mental phenomenon by which viewer's interpret the meaning of a given expression depending on the surrounding context.

It was not until the bottle rolled out of the table and fell that Hux realized he'd not been in such a quiet room in a long, long time.

 

After the last sounds of the breaking glass dissolved into oblivion, no other noises could be heard apart from both their ragged breathings, and the leaking faucet that stood in the other end of the room, water droplets falling to the sink at a rhythmic pace, a metronome setting the tempo for the sharp staccato of their lungs. The bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling blinked–once, twice– disrupting the static fuzz that had become the background noise, too much of a permanent fixture to even be perceived as a sound. Its absence, the bare fraction of a second that the lights went off, only served to call it back to the front of the mind, its absence deafening; but soon it, too, faded from conscience, slowly ebbing away like waves in the water.

Somewhere, light years away, in another world, the sun shone, but all that remained where the few rays that managed to filter through the wooden planks blocking the windows, shimming its way through the cracks and lighting the particles of dust alight, casting the hints of a dance of shadows as the only disruption in the otherwise frozen room.

The quiet stillness of the scene unfolding seemed almost eerie in comparison to the gunshots still ringing on his ears: after the screams, the running, the thundering roar of the engine as they left half the tires on the pavement with the sudden escape, silence felt wrong, out of place, like something out of a movie. Something that should happen to someone else.

Something that should definitely, surely, should not take place in the middle of the fucking Apocalypse.

 

'Take off your shirt,' Hux said, if only to break the trance.

Kylo snickered, aiming for a seductive smirk that soon turned pained when the movement of his arms stretched the skin taut, reaching the open wound and making him wince. ‘I can take it off, or I can not bleed out. Your pick.’

‘Where do you have to get shot in order to stop being a smartass?’ Hux retorted, but reached for the scissors in the medical kit nonetheless. 'Do you have a special liking to that shirt?' he asked, more out of politeness than anything else. After all, whatever the answer the conclusion would probably remain the same.

'Considering it's one of the last I have, I’d say y–.’

‘Tough shit, because it’s going down. However, I do not feel like you will suffer a great loss, considering that you never seem to be wearing shirts when walking around the house. Do you, by any chance, have any personal vendetta against common decency?’

Kylo scoffed. 'I haven't seen you complain.'

'I am quite _literally_ complaining right now.' Hux started cutting the fabric, getting rid of everything but the small patch that had become plastered to the skin with the dried blood and sweat. ‘This might sting.'

'Not more than getting a gunshot, I'd assume. Let's get it over and done with’.

 

Hux reached for the medical kit, putting on a pair of latex gloves before wetting a gauze in alcohol. Thank God for small miracles, Phasma was no short woman, and the glove size she used fit Hux too. He stood next to the table Kylo was sitting on, a small desk-made-operation-table. It was almost comical, seeing the usually dangerous man sit there so meekly, baring his throat for easier access. Hux’s mouth quirked upwards, entertaining half a thought about how many uses he could give to Ren’s newfound ability to willingly submit. Though he’d intended to check the wound, his gaze moved lower on its own accord, eyes appreciating the big, defined torso appearing before him.

When his gaze snapped back up, he realized Ren had been staring, smug smirk quirking the corners of his mouth upwards. He pressed the wet gauze against the wound, and Kylo gasped in pain. The victory was short-lived, though, for he soon bit his lip to keep the sounds off. Slowly, his breath evened again, and the damp cloth dissolved the coagulated blood, disentangling the cloth from the skin. Hux peeled it off, the ripping sound quiet under any other circumstances, but here it ricochetted off the walls and echoed in the room.

 

‘Done,’ Hux announced, discarding it on the bin he’d placed by his side. The wound revealed itself then, opened and bleeding again after the rough treatment, a splotch of angry red on the otherwise pale expanse of skin. ‘I’m going to need to take a closer look,’ he said.

Kylo shrugged, or at least tried to, before stopping mid-motion with a pained wince. ‘Knock yourself out.’ Hux got closer again, pressed against the edge of the table, positioning himself on the space between Ren’s legs. Under the heavy Mojave desert summer, heat radiated off his body in waves, hitting Hux enough to make him feel lightheaded. He pressed one hand on the edge of Kylo’s shoulder, three fingers of the other one resting against his neck for leverage. Kylo flinched at the touch. ‘Careful there.’

‘What? You got a bullet to the shoulder this close to your jugular, I had to peel your shirt off it, but my fingers are what you choose to complain about?’

‘Your hands are cold, ’s all.’

Hux laughed, a short, clipped sound. ‘Unbelievable,’ he said, hiding his smile in the crook of Ren’s neck as he inspected it closer.

 

From this close, Kylo smelled of sweat, gunpowder, and musk; a strong scent accentuated by the water rationing that made showers nothing short of a luxury. Under any other circumstances, hell, just a month ago, it would have been off-putting, but now all it reminded Hux of was of the hideouts, the rush of adrenaline of barely making it out alive, and quiet mornings on the rooftops, pressed tight against Kylo’s body as he corrected the hands that ever-so-slightly shook close to the trigger.

_‘You need to calm your breathing, Ren.’ he’d said, and as Kylo turned his gaze from the crosshairs and a gush of wind carried his scent, he found himself unable to follow his own advice_. It was getting hard to, even now, as he scanned the open skin for shrapnel. He blamed the shutoff windows and the midsummer sun for the feeling of too-tight clothes and the fuzziness of his mind. Or perhaps it was Ren, since they were close enough that he could feel Kylo’s chest rising and falling with every panting breath, the air that left his mouth against his shoulder, hot and wet. Hux had never been a fan of physical contact for a reason. He withdrew the hand on the shoulder to wipe the sweat of his forehead.

 

‘It seems like a reasonably clean cut, all things considered. Thankfully for you, the bullet just grazed your shoulder, so I won’t have to re-open to fish it out. Next time, however, please do try not to get yourself shot over a pack of toilet paper. If this team has to suffer a loss, the least we could get out of it should be a bottle of bourbon.’

‘I didn’t know it was fucking toilet paper. Poe and Rey were in charge of the shopping list, I needed to ensure no one else got to the store while we were there.’ But they did. This far from Day Zero, resources were beginning to run out, and raiders were beginning to become a little less sneaky and a lot more heavily armed. A couple of well-placed bullets, courtesy of Hux’s most cherished rifle, had soon ended the confrontation, but that hadn’t prevented them from getting Kylo first. Which had been Hux’s fault, of course. Ren did have a tendency to use the comm devices for banter, but if he hadn’t taken the bait, Hux could have more than likely noticed the black van in time…

‘We can go back, then? Phasma said they’d be fine, but you and I both know they could use some backup. We surely can’t be the only humans to think about that supermarket, it was too good of an opportunity. And you know Poe is a good shot, but he took the guard last night, and I doubt that 24h with no sleep do any good to marksmanship.’ 

’You try to get out of this warehouse, I shoot you.’ Hux stated, matter-of-factly. ‘And you know I’ve got better aim than those raiders. I’d put the bullet right between your eyes before you even thought about moving a leg.’

‘Feisty.’ Hux didn’t need to look up to sense the wink. ‘All bark, and I’m still waiting for the bite.’

‘Oh honey, you know I’m a third-date kind of girl. Treat me to dinner first.’

Kylo rolled his eyes. ’Besides, you’d be doomed without me, and you know it. This team would drive you insane.' 

Hux scoffed. ’ _You_ drive me insane. The team is tolerable. You’re the most arrogant, insufferable and childish out of them all.’

‘See? You’d be so bored,’ Kylo smirked, and Hux rolled his eyes.

The man made a move to stand up, but he stopped him with a hand to his chest. ‘Where the fuck do you think you’re going?’

‘You said the wound was clean,’ Ren argued. ‘And your securing the perimeter was sloppy at best, I’m going to ensure we were not followed.’

‘First of all, say any job of mine is sloppy and you won’t live to say it again. And second, I meant clean as in _not filled with shrapnel,_ not as in _I’m done you can go berserk on the first moving target_. I still have to disinfect it. And it’s deep enough to warrant you some stitches. I can’t emphasize enough how you got out of this by the skin of your fucking teeth.’Kylo mouthed a fuck. Hux couldn’t quite decipher if it came out of boredom, restlessness, or the prospect of needles (of which he was—rather vocally—not a huge fan). He reached for the medical kit on the table, behind where Kylo was sitting.

‘I can do the cleaning just fine, but Phasma should be the one doing the stitches. She’s the combat medic, after all. She just taught me the basics to not bleed out in case I got shot in the middle of the desert.’ And hadn’t those been some fun nights, sneaking out of the barracks to sew a piece of half-cooked steak stolen from the kitchen until Phasma deemed it worthy enough to get the fuck back to sleep.’I can’t promise it will be pretty, or that it won’t leave a scar.’

 

Silence dropped in the room, again. Hux fiddled with the ends of his latex gloves, pulling on one of the edges and feeling the sharp pain as it smacked back against his wrist. Above, the lights blinked again, one-two metallic sounds before the lights were back up. When he could see again, Kylo was staring straight at him.

 

‘I’d rather it be you,’ Kylo answered. If Hux was less of a skeptic man, he’d sworn the atmosphere charged with electricity at that.

 

(Truth was probably a lot less exciting, like the final breaking of the electrical storm that had threatened the weather for days. The weather had been too sticky-hot for too long, it was only a matter of time until it crashed in a frenzy of thunder and rain,)

 

Hux smirked, in spite of himself. ‘Careful, Ren,’ he said, picking Betadine and a new packet of sterilized gauze. ‘Trusting me with your body can be a dangerous game.’ His voice lowered, sounding rougher than he intended to. He heard a sharp intake of breath, but shrugged off as Kylo bracing himself for a medical operation without painkillers. He wetted the gauze with the disinfectant, feeling Ren’s eyes on him at all times, gaze burning through him like it threatened to make a hole in his skull. He looked up, meeting Ren’s brown eyes, both their bodies momentarily frozen in place.

Time seemed to slow down, moving thick like black treacle. Kylo licked his lips, and Hux noted–a thought in passing, like one might notice it’s raining outside–that they were close enough that all it would take him would be a small movement of his head for them to touch. It was weird, really, how close they’d become, far too close for anyone’s bubble of personal space, and yet the atmosphere seemed fitting for–

That was when it dawned on him.

 

‘Oh, fuck me,’ he mouthed, stiffing a hysterical burst of laughter against Ren’s chest.

‘What?’

‘You’re the wounded soldier, and I’m the pretty, doe-eyed nurse.’ Kylo snickered, and despite his best instincts, Hux felt the corners of his own mouth tugging upwards. ’I must be moments away from asking if you have anything else that needs to be taken care of and then leering down seductively at your crotch.’

‘Pff. Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not pretty.’ Hux pressed the gauze harder against the wound, making him flinch. ‘Fuck you. But it’s true. You’re many things, but I wouldn’t describe you as pretty.’ Kylo turned around, and their eyes met. ‘Cunning, dark, lethal, a stuck-up, anal-retentive asshole that probably gets off killing zombies a bit too much, sexy, and a damn good sniper. Just, not…’ he trailed off, looking away. ‘Just not pretty. Pretty is for things that can’t kill you in your sleep.’

‘What did you say?’ Hux asked.

The slip dawned on Kylo, then, because his eyes widened. ‘I said you’re anal-retentive and that the sniper rifle is probably compensating for something.’

‘You didn’t say the latter, and I meant what came after the former.’

It must’ve been a trick of the lights, but Hux could swear he saw red coloring Ren’s cheeks. ‘You’ll have to torture me to get it past my lips again.’ Hux laughed, throwing the gauze in the trash and busying himself with finding the needle and thread. ‘Besides, holding it against me would be fucking brave, considering you were very much enjoying the sight mere minutes ago.’

‘I have never done such thing,’ he retorted.

‘Enjoying things? Pf, yeah, I bet.’

The needle shone with the light rays, lighting up in stark contrast to the dimly-lit room. ‘If I were you,’ he started, ‘I wouldn’t antagonize the man who’s about to put a sharp object right next to a major artery.’ Ren’s breath hitched. When Hux looked up, he realized he hadn’t been looking at the needle. His eyes had been on him. Hux didn’t break the contact as he settled between his legs again.

‘Oh boy. I bet you’re getting off on this so much. I hope I look pretty in your memories, when you jerk off to this later tonight.’

‘Thin ice, Ren. You’re on thin fucking ice.’ Ren just answered with an eyebrow rise, and Hux didn’t care to elaborate further. ‘This is going to hurt. As you can probably tell, this is not exactly a hospital, the resources are limited, and anesthetics are unfortunately not part of the inventory. You may place a hand on me for support, but place it somewhere unprofessional and I’ll chop it off, along with the organ you were thinking with when you decided that was a reasonable course of action.’

‘Yeah, this is definitely the wounded soldier fantasy. I’ve never been harder in my life. _Yes, babe_ , ‘ Kylo said, fake breathy ‘let me put my hand on your forearm.’

‘It’s either that, or you chew on a dog toy. Your pick.’

‘I’ll be fin– holy shit,’ he yelped, when Hux pierced the skin. ‘Ever thought about warning me first?’ Nevertheless, the hand on the non-injured side traveled to Hux’s waist, high enough for him to not be able to raise an objection. So Kylo could follow orders, after all. Wasn’t that an exciting discovery.

‘I thought it’d be better to use a diversion,’ he answered.

‘Well, you’re gonna need a hell of a show to distract me about this.’

‘Sorry I left the sexy nurse outfit at home,’ he deadpanned. ‘You’ll have to soldier through without staring at my ample bosoms as I get through the procedure.’

‘Excuses,’ Kylo answered. His voice sounded strained.Hux could feel Kylo’s muscles tense underneath his hand, hard and unyielding like pure steel. The wound was not big, and they were almost done anyway.

‘Don’t be such a baby. If you don’t want stitches, try not to get into the trajectory of a bullet.’

‘Geez. Thanks. I didn’t think of that.’

He put the needle through the skin one more time, and the hand on his waist tensed, nails digging into his skin, ’I’ll give you a lollipop if you’re a good boy and behave.’

‘Will you?’

‘Fuck no. Who do you think I am? A nice person?’ He said, looking up. Kylo was still staring at him. His pupils looked blown, making Hux think about whether the gunshot and subsequent escape had also managed to make him hit his head, giving him a concussion. Which would only explain about 50% of their collective behavior, but then again, 50 was still somewhat better than 0.

‘You know, I had a remark there about something else you could give me to suck on, but since we were being so civil, I decided against it. I regret it now.’

‘And since you decided to tell me, you managed to be neither funny nor civil. Good job.’

‘You know, if the Undead had sentience, I’d sell you to them for half a corn chip.’

‘If the Undead had sentience, I wouldn’t have been able to distinguish you from them in the first place.’

 

The lights dimmed, and Hux realized his hands had been still for a long time. He finished the job without another word, drenching the used needle in ethanol as he finished. He picked the bandages by Ren’s leg and patched him up. ‘There you go,’ he said. Neither of them moved. The moment stretched long enough to part from the reasonable and start falling into the awkward valley, yet neither of them made a gesture to move. Outside, light years away, the sun shone.

‘Thanks,’ Kylo answered. They still didn’t move.

 

The faulty lights went out again. A lightbulb snapped, somewhere, the room blacking out with the sound of bursting glass that echoed through the concrete walls. The world came to a halt.

By the time the lights were back on, Hux had his hands though Ren’s hair and a mouthful of tongue, Kylo groping his ass as if it would somehow slip out of existence if he wasn’t there to keep it grounded.

Outside, it started to rain.

 

‘It’s the adrenalin,’ Hux explained when they gasped for breath. A thunder roared, in the distance. ‘It’s been a weird couple of weeks. In the office, I wouldn’t— I wouldn’t have touched you with a ten foot pole.’

‘Sure thing, babe.’ Kylo chased back Hux’s lower lip and caught it between his teeth, pulling. ‘Whatever helps you sleep at night.’

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be real: this is not the story I wanted to write. Not just on an artistic level. It is not the story I'd been planning to write. There was more to this story, a whole multichaptered Zombie AU spanning around 15 chapters. I settled for writing this one-shot first, and it isn't even all there was to this because I got discouraged halfway through. But it's been sitting on my document folder for the better part of a year, it is somewhat of a stand-alone, and honestly it took me a lot of work and I had a lot of fun so I wanted to honor that. Maybe some day I'll get around to writing the rest, but I can make no promises.


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